Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In an unexpected announcement, Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) said this week that he’s retiring from Congress after just two terms. Michigan’s 10th district is heavily Republican — Donald Trump won it by more than 30 points — and the GOP is all but certain to keep the seat.
* Quinnipiac released a new poll out of Ohio this morning, and it found that of the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, only former Vice President Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in a hypothetical match-up. In the Buckeye State, Biden leads the president by eight points, 50% to 42%, while the other Dems either tie or narrowly trail Trump.
* On a related note, the same poll found Biden leading the Democratic pack in Ohio with 31%, followed by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 14% each. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is right behind them with 13%.
* One other tidbit of note in Quinnipiac’s Ohio poll: Rep. Tim Ryan (D), who’s also running for president, finished with just 1% support. Given that Ohio is his home state, that’s not a great sign.
* Several of the top Democratic presidential contenders were in Detroit yesterday for the national NAACP convention.
* Incidentally, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R), who’s challenging Trump for the Republican nomination, also spoke at the NAACP convention, where he described the president as a “raging racist.” * It’s worth keeping an eye on the burgeoning tensions between Joe Biden and Cory Booker, who’ve thrown a few elbows at one another in recent days. (The two will share a debate stage next week.) * I guess no one should be surprised that Trump’s re-election campaign launched a Mueller-related fundraiser yesterday morning, while the House Judiciary Committee hearing was underway. * And in Arizona, where appointed Sen. Martha McSally (R) has struggled in the past with violations of campaign-finance law, the Republican this week agreed to pay a fine of more than $23,000 to the Federal Election Commission. The transgression relates to a McSally misstep in 2014.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
